The Cupcake Girls

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Human trafficking is defined as “modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” (1) While human trafficking can encompass many things, we want to share some statistics for domestic sex trafficking (2):
244,000 - the number of children estimated to be at risk for sexual exploitation100,000 - the estimated number of youth being prostituted in the United States400 - the number of adolescents working the streets of Las Vegas in just one month13 - the average age of a child to be pulled into sex trafficking1 in 3 - the ratio of child to adult trafficking...

Mondays Dark? What does that mean? Well, it has nothing to do with the weather! In a city known for its world class entertainment, "dark days" are slow days, or days off, for local entertainers; usually a Monday. If you're a Las Vegan who loves affordable entertainment AND supporting a charitable cause, let us shed some light on Mondays Dark.
Mark Shunock, formerly known for his singing performance as Lonny in the ‘Rock of Ages’ show, is the creator and host of Mondays Dark. Mondays Dark began three years ago, with the intention of allowing entertainers to give back to the Las Vegas community. Twice a month, Mark partners with local charities, and enlists an eclectic cast of performers,...

We all know that during Vegas Summer days you could fry an egg on a sidewalk, but our city’s weather also ranges from 90 mph winds, to stormy rains causing flash floods, to scorching triple digit heat, to 8 inches of snow covering the valley. Being a meteorologist in Las Vegas is no easy feat. Luckily for The Cupcake Girls, and all the other amazing non profit organizations that reside in Las Vegas, we have Kevin Janison on our side predicting our weather reports.
During the evening weekday broadcasts, Kevin Janison, NBC’s meteorologist for Channel 3 News, predicts the next day's temperature. Every time he is within 3 degrees, Channel 3 along with one of their partners donates $100 to a...

It’s been six years since I officially launched The Cupcake Girls, and I find that I am still humbled and blown away by what we have been able to accomplish together. It’s been two years since we talked about the anniversary of our founding, and 2015 and 2016 brought tremendous growth to our organization. We have added staff in both cities, and now have a team of social work interns providing support to our clients in ways we only dreamed of in the beginning!
LVPD is now calling us to provide aftercare for survivors of domestic sex trafficking, and we have better resources and partnerships in place to provide that care, and so much more. We are on the cusp of opening a resource center to...

December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This day of remembrance and awareness began in 2003, and The Cupcake Girls want to reaffirm our commitment and support to the sex work community. On Saturday, we will remember those who have lost their lives, or faced trauma at the hands of violent perpetrators. Every life lost, hurt, and threatened is valuable to us, and we stand in solidarity with organizations who are working to end these tragedies.
Some facts about violence about sex workers:
45-75% of sex workers globally will experience violent encounters
Statistics range from country to country, but 30-80% of these assaults are committed by police officers. This...

We understand that the holiday season is not always a time of joy and celebration for many reasons. Added expenses and expectations can cause feelings of stress, anxiety and and hopelessness. If you are in need of assistance this holiday season, we have compiled a list of resources in Portland, OR and Las Vegas, NV that you may be able to access. Each organization has their own deadlines and criteria, but we hope to make it easier for you to find the assistance you need.
As always, if you work in the sex industry and need support or resources, please don’t hesitate to contact us. While we don’t have any holiday specific resources, we can go through our process with you to meet other...

Domestic violence is pervasive and insidious in our society. While typically associated with physical violence (and statistics show that 15% of all violent crime is domestic violence), this abuse can come in other forms, including psychological, sexual, and financial abuse.
Psychological abuse involves trauma to the victim caused by verbal abuse, acts, threats of acts, or coercive tactics. (1)
Perpetrators who are physically violent toward their intimate partners are often sexually abusive as well. Victims who are both physically and sexually abused are more likely to be injured or killed than victims who experience one form of abuse. (2)
Financial abuse limits access to shared or...

September is known as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which helps promote resources and awareness around the issues of suicide prevention, how you can help others and how to talk about suicide without increasing the risk of harm. Suicidal thoughts can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people and is often the result of mental health conditions that affect people when they are most vulnerable. You can learn more about spreading awareness at the NAMI website.
September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day and focuses on raising awareness and helping those with suicidal ideation get connected to treatment...

In Portland, a team of volunteers are meeting for a group run. They have committed to raise money and awareness in order to offer tangible resources to people who have been sex trafficked, and those working in the adult industry. All of them have busy schedules and plenty of commitments, and they could have used another couple of hours of sleep, but it’s a small sacrifice of time and effort for something they believe in. They know every dollar they raise is making a difference.
In Las Vegas a woman is lacing up her running shoes and stretching. She has a half-marathon coming up in October, and she’s ready to tackle a five mile training run. Running and fundraising are hard for her, but...

Today marks the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Human trafficking has come to the forefront of social justice causes in the last 10 years, and for good reason - trafficking human beings, for labor or sex, is a horrific violation of human rights and a form of modern-day slavery. We stand with the many organizations working tirelessly to end human trafficking around the world and applaud their efforts, but we saw an unmet need for providing resources and support to these courageous survivors as they take their next steps into the world.
We want to share with you some of the ways The Cupcake Girls are fighting human trafficking.
Some of us have been in the adult...